Steam control method and apparatus for fabric pressing machine

ABSTRACT

A method for selectively varying the vacuum pressure applied to the buck of a buck and swingable head type fabric pressing machine to establish the optimum vacuum pressure in accord with the weight and drying characteristics of the fabric to be pressed to assure effective drying and setting of the press in the fabric and a vacuum valve for presetting the vacuum pressure to the optimum value by adjustably venting the valve to the atmosphere. The valve is characterized by a vacuum line coupling means that may be removed from the valve without breaking the line connection to gain access to the valve biasing spring means, the valve, and valve seat for the purpose of servicing and replacement.

United States Patent [1 1 Gerod I [111 3,797,142 [451 Mar. 19, 1974 [76]Inventor: John T. Gerod, 312 N. Lincoln Ave., Scranton, Pa. 18504 [22]Filed: Nov. 30, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 310,903

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 73,775, Sept. 21.1970, Pat No.

[52] US. Cl. 38/15 [51] Int. Cl. ..'D06f 71/34 [58] Field of Search38/15, 16, 41

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.424.623 7/1947 Monsarrat38/15 2.644.254 7/1953 Schultz 38/15 2.663.954 12/1953 Goldman 38/152.682.121 6/1954 Schultz 38/15 2,784,509 3/1957 Ketchum et a1. 38/153.193.952 7/1965 Schlemon 38/15 2.703.939 3/1955 Clarke 38/41 2.533.18812/1950 DeVitto 38/15 2.555.967 6/1951 Goldman 38/15 1.963.822 6/1934Beede 38/15 3,484,965 12/1969 Hoisve et al.. 38/15 2,537,700 1/1951Powell et a1. 38/16 3,593,440 7/1971 Schlemon 38/16 Primary ExaminerGeo.V. Larkin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Straugh, Nolan, Neale, Nies & Kurz 57ABSTRACT A method for selectively varying the vacuum pressure applied tothe buck of a buck and swingable head type fabric pressing machine toestablish the optimum vacuum pressure in accord with the weight anddrying characteristics of the fabric to be pressed to assure effectivedrying and setting of the press in the fabric and a vacuum valve forpresetting the vacuum pressure to the optimum value by adjustablyventing the valve to the atmosphere. The valve is characterized by avacuum line coupling means that may be removed from the valve withoutbreaking the line connection to gain access to the valve biasing springmeans, the valve, and valve seat for the purpose of servicing andreplacement.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures OONDENSAT E TANK PATENTEU "MI I 9 I974 SHEEI2 OF 2 STEAM CONTROL METHOD AND' APPARATUS FOR FABRIC PRESSING MACHINEThe present application is a division of my cope'nding application Ser.No. 73,775 filed Sept. 21, 1970, now Letters Patent No. 3,738,385 datedJune 12, 1973.

BACKGROUND or INVENTION In the commercial pressing of fabrics andgarments, it is customary to employ steam pressing machines of the typehaving pressing elements generally identified as the buck" and the head.A typical machine of this type is shown in US. Letters'Pat. No.1,661,153 issued Mar. 6, 1928, to Herbert G. Bee'de. In such ma chinesthe buck is fixedly mounted on a stationary support frame and the headis hingedly mounted on the support frame to swing about an axis parallelto the 1ongitudinal axis of the buck between a pressing position insuperposed mating engagement with the buck and a non-pressing positionspaced upwardly from the buck. Suitable foot treadles and linkagearrangements are conventionally provided to swing, the head between itspressing and non-pressing positions and both the buck and head comprisehollow, elongated, metal bodies matingly tapered from one end to theother end, both ends being rounded. The upper face of the buck is formedby a perforated plate of convex cross-section and the mating face of thehead is formed by a perforated plate of concave cross-section. Bothmating faces are covered by foraminous padding or the like drawnsmoothly over theirrespective opposed surfaces and secured inconventional manner under peripheral flanges to form steam emittingpressing faces for engag, ing the opposite sides of the fabric orgarment to be pressed.

The buck and head are respectively separated into a heating chamber anda steam emitting chamber immediately adjacent their respectiveperforated plates and dry steam at about 80 pounds per squareinchpressure is continuously passed through the heating chambers tomaintain the buck and head, at operating temperature. Suitable pipingfitted with a manually actuated main control valve, usuallyfootoperated, is provided to selectively bypass or supply dry steam fromthe. heating chambers to the steam emitting. chambers when the head isbrought into its pressing position relative to the buck. Thecondensation forming in the head and buck is conventionally removedthrough condensate return lines containing serially connected checkvalves and leading to the steam generator to assure a supply of drysteam at all, times and prevent the formation of wet steam which willnot guarantee the desired pressing ef-, fect. The selectively bypassedsteam passes successively through the perforated plates and theirrespective padded surfaces to the fabric or garment being pressed tosteam and shape the fabric or garment and setting of the shape to thedesired pressed shaped is accomplished'by appropriate dryingconventionally effected by supplying dry steam through the head whileconnecting the lowest point of the buck through a valved vaccum lineconnected to a vacuum pump to remove the condensate collecting in thepadded surfaces and the fabric or garment being pressed. Prior to thisinvention, the vacuum line valve has been merely a conventional type twoway diaphragm valve which is either completely closed or completelyopened;

It has been determined that proper drying andsetting is essential toassure a proper pressing effect and that different fabrics or garmentsmade from different materials necessitate differing drying rates toproduce the desired set. The present invention is directed to a noveldrying method and vacuum line valve therefore which will assure a properdrying of the many differing fabrics marketed today.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION It, accordingly, is a primary object of thisinvention to provide a novel method of varying'tlie drying rate ofconventional steam pressing machines by controlling the vacuum pressureapplied to the buck during the' drying operation.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a valve ofthe diaphragm type having a valved outlet to the atmosphere adapted tobe preset to bleed varying amounts of ambient air into the vacuum lineto retard the rate of steam passage through the fabric or garment beingpressed and the consequent removal of the resulting condensate from thepadded surfaces and thefabric or garment in accord with the weight andtexture of the fabric or garment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further objects will appear from thefollowing description and appended claims when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the buck and head of aconventional steam pressing-machine, the steam and condensate returnlines provided therefore, and the conventional vacuum line fitted withthe novel vacuum valve of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged left end elevational view of the novel vacuumvalve of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the valve of FIG. 2 with the right endthere broken away along a chordal plane through the condensate returnline connection;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section through the valve of FIG. 2 takensubstantially on line 44 looking in the direction of the arrows; and vFIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a simple vacuum vent pipesection which may be installed in existing pressing machine vacuum linesto convert them to the methodof the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to'thedrawings wherein like reference numerals are employed throughout toindicate the same parts and particularly to FIG. 1, a conventionallyconstructed pressing machine of the general type shown in theaforementioned Letters Pat. No. 1,661,153 is diagrammaticallyillustrated. It comprises a stationary buck 10 andswingable head 11supported conventionally by linkage (not shown) to swing downwardly fromits illustrated non-pressing position into pressing position with itsunderside in full covering engagement-with the upperside of buck 10.Steam inlet lines 12 and 13, supplied with dry steam at about lbs.pressure from a common supply line 14' connected to a steam generator(not shown) and providedwith a shut-off valve 15 normally opened duringpressing operations to continuously supply steam to the heating chambers22 of buck 10 andhead 11 to maintain the metal chamber walls atoperating temperature to condition the machine for pressing operations.This maintained heating minimizes condensation which is removed fromchambers 22 through condensate return lines 16 and 17 serially connectedto a common condensate return line 18 at a point between shut-off valve19 connected in line 18 and a check valve 20 interposed between theadjacent ends of lines 17 and 18. Line 18 beyond valve 19 isconventionally connected to the steam generator (not shown) to returnthe removed condensate to the generator.

Buck 10 and head 11 are conventionally divided by metal partition walls21 to separate heating chambers 22 from opposed steam emitting chambers23, the opposing faces of which are formed by respective perforatedplates and 26 overlaid by foraminous padding 27 and 28 which form thepressing surfaces contacting the fabric or garment to be pressed. Bypassvalves 24 mounted inside of buck 10 and head 11 on partition walls 21and conventionally connected for operation by respective foot treadles(not shown) are provided to bypass dry steam from heating chambers 22 tosteam emitting chambers 23 during the pressing operation as will bepresently described. 3

The plate members 25 and 26 are conventionally respectively of convexconfiguration in cross-section and mating concave configuration incross-section and the padding 27 and 28 conforms in cross-sectionalconfiguration to the respective plates to provide mating convex andconcave pressing surfaces.

The partition wall 21 of buck 10 adjacent one end (the right end inFIG. 1) is depressed and formed to provide a suction channel and outlet29 connected through vacuum line 31 and the manually operated normallyclosed solenoid valve 32, provided by this invention to replace theconventional fully closed fully open solenoid operated vacuum valve ofthe prior art pressing machines, to a condensate accumulator tank 33 andvacuum pump 34 exhausting through line 35 to the atmosphere. Pump 34 isdriven by an electric motor 36 in conventional manner.

The pressing machine of the present invention is conventionally operatedto provide the initial steaming function. Such operation consists insmoothing the fab ric or garment to be pressed over the padding 27 ofbuck l0 and actuating a foot pedal (not shown) to swing head 11downwardly into pressing position to engage the fabric or garmentbetween the opposed padded faces of buck 10 and head 11. Whilemaintaining head 11 in its pressing position the conventional foottreadles controlling bypass valves 24 are actuated simultaneously orselectively in customary manner to bypass dry steam under pressure fromchambers 22 to steam emitting chambers 23. This bypassed steam passesoutwardly in opposite directions through peforated plates 21 and therespective foraminous paddings 27 and 28 to the opposite surfaces of thefabric or garment being pressed to steam the fabric or garment whichthen conforms closely to the contour of the mating padding surfaces.This steaming and pressing'operation, usually accomplished in a matterof seconds, removes all wrinkles that are present and moistens andshapes the portion of the fabric or garment exposed to the steam.

It then becomes essential to dry the pressed fabric or garment to setthe wrinkle free shaped portion disposed between buck l0 and head 11.This drying operation, effected by supplying dry steam through head 11while the buck is connected to the vacuum line to draw the supplied drysteam and ambient air through the steamed garment or fabric and intobuck 10, is a most critical and important step, equally important as thepressing operation, since it sets the press in the fabric or garment andassures the desired finished quality and appearance. In the pressing oflight materials, such as polyesters and the like, or a too rapid dryingof any materials effected with too high a vacuum, an excessive amount ofambient air is sucked through the steamed fabric or garment into thebuck 10 resulting in a cooling effect producing excessive amounts ofcondensation. This resulting excessive condensation moistens the fabricor garment and the padding 27 destroying the desired pressing andforming quality of the pressing operation, causes the fabric or garmentto adhere to the padding 27 preventing easy removal of the fabric orgarment from buck 10, and effects a cooling of the metal of the buckbelow the temperature required to assure the desired quality of thepress. Avoidance of these problems using the fully closed fully openvacuum valves of the prior art can only be avoided by extreme expertiseof the operator, seldom obtainable by the many existing commercialpressing establishments.

Applicant has solved these problems by modifying the prior art pressingmethod by varying the applied vacuum pressure in accord with the varyingweight and drying characteristics of the fabric or garment beingpressed. Thus, if the article being pressed is a light weight, fastdrying material, such as a polyester fabric, the vacuum pressure appliedis reduced to assure a lesser volume of dry steam and air passingthrough the fabric or garment and padding 27 and a reduced coolingeffect. If the article being pressed is a heavy wool garment or a linedfabric the vacuum pressure is increased to its maximum valve or a pointsufficiently below maximum value to assure proper drying and setting ofthe press. Since the optimum vacuum pressure for materials of varyingweight and line or unlined articles may differ widely over a rangebetween the maximum available pressure and a vacuum pressureapproximately equal to the pound pressure of the supplied dry steam, itis contemplated that the optimum vacuum pressure be determinedempirically. It is further contemplated that commercial establishmentshaving relatively large quantities of articles of similar material indifferent weights and of different drying characteristics will sort thearticles to be pressed into piles of like or similar character so thelike or similar articles may all be pressed at the same setting of thevacuum pressure. This practice will avoid the necessity of resetting thevacuum pressure for. each article as it is reached for pressing and,therefore, increase the overall output of the machine to produce a highquality finished product.

In order to effectively practice applicants modified method, the vacuumvalve 32 of the present invention is constructed with a main elongatedvalve body 41 of hexagonal configuration formed at one end with anenlarged cylindrical chamber 42 opening through the end, an adjacent,coaxially arranged, cylindrical chamber 43 of reduced diameter definingan annular shoulder 44 at the line of juncture of chambers 42 and 43 andon wall 45 .at the opposite end provided with a through coaxiallyarranged bore 46. One fiat wall of body 41 adjacent the one end isformed with a radially directed boss 47 having an'axially directed,slot-like, through air passage 48 intersecting chamber 42 and a rightangularly directed cylindrical through bore 49 for a purpose to bepresently pointed out. This same flat wall in axially spaced relationalong body 41 is provided with a cylindrical threaded through bore 51intersecting chamber 43 beyond shoulder 44 and adapted to threadecllyreceive the threaded end of the run of vacuum line 31 leading tocondensate accumulator tank 33. The opposite flat wall in coaxial,diametrically opposed relation to bore 51 is provided with a cylindricalthrough bore 52 of substantially smaller diameter adapted to mount apressure gauge 50 for registering the effective vacuum pressure appliedto buck 10.

Shoulder 44 is counterbored at 53 to form an annular recess whichreceives in press fitted relation an annular valve seat 54 whichprojects forwardly into chamber 42 to form a seat for a disc-like valvemember 55. Valve member 55 is fixedly mounted on the threaded end 56 ofan elongated valve stem 57 by a pair of adjustable clamp nuts 60. Stem57 extends axially through chamber 43 and a combined sleeve bearing andseal 58 pressed fitted in end wall bore 46. The end of stem 57 remotefrom threaded end 56 projects outwardly from sleeve bearing 58 into endbutted engagement with the reduced diameter end 59 of a cylindricalheaded armature 61 of a normally deenergized solenoid actuator 62 ofconventional construction fixedly mounted on body end wall 45. Solenoidactuator 62 is conventionally wired to a vacuum valve control pedal (notshown) of the type heretofore provided for actuating the fullyclosed,fully-opened -vacuum valve provided on the prior art pressing machines.I

Valve member 55 is normallybiased to its closed position illustrated inFIG. 4 by a tapered biasing spring 63 the smaller end of which seats onvalve disc 55 in surrounding relation to the outer clamp nut 60 and itswasher 64 which serve to retain the smaller end of spring 63 againstundue lateral shifting movement relative to valve disc 55. The oppositeend of biasing spring 63 seats on thediametrically opposed spokes 65 ofa spring retainer ring 66 dimensioned to closely but freely enterchamber 42. Ring 66 is held against axial outward disassociation fromchamber 42 by abutting engagementwith the end face of the reduceddiameter end 67 of a hexagonally shaped coupling member 68 secured tothe one end of body member 41 by a pair of diametrically opposed Allenheaded screws 69 threaded into suitably tapped apertures formed in' theone end face of body member 41. Coupling member 68 has a coaxiallyarranged through bore 71 suitably tapped-to threadedly receive the runof vacuum line 31 which connects tooutlet 29 of partition wall 21 ofbuck Referring to FIG. 4, it will be appreciated that the abovedescribed vacuum valve structure provides a valvewhich may be readilydisassembled for servicing of valve seat 54, valve disc 55 and spring 63and its retainer ring 64 merely by-removing securing screws 69 to freecoupling member 68 with vacuum line 31 attached for axial shiftingmovement relative to valve body 41 to withdraw the short reduceddiameter end 67 from the end of chamber 42. Likewise, the solenoidactuator 62 mounted on 'valve' body end wall 45 is fully exposed forremovaland servicing without disturbing the connections of the vacuumvalve and vacuum line 31.

The annular bore 49 of boss 47 of valve body 41 rotatably mounts inclose rotating fit the body 71 of a plug type throttling valve 72 havinga through slot passage 48a dimensioned to mate with slot 48 and aknurled head 73 adapted to be grasped by hand to rotate valve 72 andincrease or decrease the inflow of ambient air through passage 48 underinfluence of the vacuum applied to chamber 42 when valve disc 55 isunseated by energization of solenoid actuator 62. Valve 72 is retainedagainst axial withdrawal from bore 49 by -a headed screw 74 threadedinto a suitably tapped bore in the lower end of body 71. The throttlingof the inflow of air through passage 48 into chamber 42 varies theeffective vacuum pressure applied to buck 10 during the drying andsetting operation. By suitable positioning of throttling valve 72 toadmit more or less or no ambient air to enter through passage 48, thefull vacuum pressure applied to buck 10 can be provided when requiredand the vacuum pressure can be readily reduced to any pressure to zero,when required, to properly effect drying and setting of the press in thearticles being pressed. Once the optimum drying effect for aparticular'class of articles is empirically determined, gauge 50 may beread and the reading can be recorded opposite a description of thearticles on a record sheet fixed to the pressing machine to provide aready refer ence for a future setting of throttle valve 72 foreffectively drying and setting the press for like articles.

It will be appreciated from the preceeding description that applicanthas provided an extremely effective and simple method and apparatus bywhich a pressing machine may be preset by even inexperienced operatorsproperly instructed and supervised to assure a high -quality pressedfinish of articles of varying weight and drying characteristics. It willbe further appreciated that the apparatus required to practiceapplicants im- CONVERSION VALVE EMBODIMENT Referring for the moment toFIG. 5, a conversion valve 32a, which may be introduced into the vacuumline of existing pressing machines to adapt them for practicing themethod of the present invention, is illustrated. While the valve elementmay be. introduced at any suitable point in the existing vacuum line, itis preferably installed upstream from the existing conventional on-offsolenoid operated vacuum valve. As will be clear from FIG. 5, valve 32acomprises a main hexagonal body 81 having aligned, tapped bores 82, 83at its opposite ends in communication with the opposite ends of acylindrical chamber 42a corresponding to chamber 42 of valve32. One flatwall of body 81 is formed with a radially directed boss 47a identical toboss 47 of the preferred embodiment of this invention provided with anaxially directed, slotlike, through air passage 48 intersecting chamber42a midway between its ends and a right angularly directed cylindricalthrough bore 49. Through bore 49, like through bore 49 of the previousembodiment, rotatably mounts in close rotating fit the body 71 of a plugtype throttling valve identical to throttling valve 72 of the preferredembodiment of this invention. Body 71 has a through slotpassage 48aoperative upon rotation of body 71 to increase or decrease the inflow ofambient air through passage 48 under influence of the vacuum applied tochamber 42a when the conventional on-off solenoid operated vacuum valveis unseated by energization of its solenoid actuator. Valve 32a may mostconveniently be introduced into the existing vacuum line by fitting theupstream portion of vacuum line 31 into one tapped bore, for examplebore 82, and fitting a conventional pipe union'84 to bore 83 usingrespective 'pipe nipples 85 for connecting the union to bore -83 and thetapped bore (not shown) of the conventional solenoid operated vacuumvalve.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A method for obtaining high quality steam pressing of fabric articlesusing conventional buck and swingable head steam pressing equipmentcomprising the steps of smoothing the article to be pressed over thepressing surface of the buck, swinging the head into mating pressingposition relative to the article and buck, applying steam to the articleto be pressed through the pressing surfaces of the buck and head in theconventional manner to steam the article, and then subjecting thesteamed article to drying and setting of the press by applying steamthrough the head while applying a vacuum alone of preselected optimumpressure determined by the weight and drying characteristics of thefabric to the buck thereby assuring drying of the article and a propersetting of the press.

2. Apparatus for obtaining high quality steam pressing of fabricarticles comprising in combination a conventional steam pressing machinehaving a buck, a swingable head and a vacuum pump and line arranged forpressing of fabric articles by smoothing the article to be pressed overthe pressing surface of the buck, swinging the head into pressingengagement with the article and buck and applying steam to the articlethrough the pressing surfaces of the buck and head in conventionalmanner to steam the article and vacuum line valve means for preselectingan optimum vacuum pressure in accord with the weight and dryingcharacteristics of the fabric and applying it to the steamed articlethrough the buck while supplying steam through the head to dry and setthe press, said valve means comprising a body having a through passagedefining an inlet port in fluid communication with the buck, an outletport in fluid communication with said vacuum pump, on-off valve meansdisposed in said through passage operable for applying full negativepressure developed in the through passage by the vacuum pump to thebuck, and a p'resettable throttling valve venting the through passage tothe atmosphere whereby the effective negative pressure developed may bevaried to establish said preselected optimum pressure.

1. A method for obtaining high quality steam pressing of fabric articlesusing conventional buck and swingable head steam pressing equipmentcomprising the steps of smoothing the article to be pressed over thepressing surface of the buck, swinging the head into mating pressingposition relative to the article and buck, applying steam to the articleto be pressed through the pressing surfaces of the buck and head in theconventional manner to steam the article, and then subjecting thesteamed article to drying and setting of the press by applying steamthrough the head while applying a vacuum alone of preselected optimumpressure determined by the weight and drying characteristics of thefabric to the buck thereby assuring drying of the article and a propersetting of the press.
 2. Apparatus for obtaining high quality steampressing of fabric articles comprising in combination a conventionalsteam pressing machine having a buck, a swingable head and a vacuum pumpand line arranged for pressing of fabric articles by smoothing thearticle to be pressed over the pressing surface of the buck, swingingthe head into pressing engagement with the article and buck and applyingsteam to the article through the pressing surfaces of the buck and headin conventional manner to steam the article and vacuum line valve meansfor preselecting an optimum vacuum pressure in accord with the weightand drying characteristics of the fabric and applying it to the steamedarticle through the buck while supplying steam through the head to dryand set the press, said valve means comprising a body having a throughpassage defining an inlet port in fluid communication with the buck, anoutlet port in fluid communication with said vacuum pump, on-off valvemeans disposed in said through passage operable for applying fullnegative pressure developed in the through passage by the vacuum pump tothe buck, and a presettable throttling valve venting the through passageto the atmosphere whereby the effective negative pressure developed maybe varied to establish said preselected optimum pressure.